Amazon removes whale meat products from Japanese site

March 04, 2012

"In just 24 hours, more than 35,000 supporters have appealed to Amazon for a total ban on the sale of whale, dolphin and porpoise products. The public wants these animals protected rather than killed and sold for profit."

- Mark Jones, executive director of Humane Society International UK

Environmental groups are claiming a major victory after the online retailer Amazon removed whale meat products from its site in Japan. Public outcry forces online retailer to ditch products including whale bacon, whale jerky and canned whale meat.

Amazon was accused of hypocrisy by the UK-based environmental investigation agency (EIA) after investigators found 147 whale products for sale on the site, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Seattle-based company.

The products contravened the firm's policy of refusing to advertise unlicensed or illegal wildlife products, including endangered species.

Some of the items came from whale species listed as endangered, according to Amazon.com's Unpalatable Profits, a report by the EIA and the Humane Society International.

Others were traced to Japan's annual "research" hunts in the Antarctic, during which it slaughters more than 900 minke whales and a small number of fin whales.

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